Acts 20, verse 17. This is God's Word. Now from Miletus, he, Paul, sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them, You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time, from the first day that I set foot in Asia. serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews. How I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you in public and from house to house. testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance towards God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me that in every city imprisonment and afflictions await me. that I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I might finish my course in the ministry that I receive from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore, I testify to you this day, that I am innocent of the blood of all for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." Verse 28, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God which he obtained with his own blood I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease, night or day, to admonish everyone with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and those who were with me. In all things I've shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, it is more blessed to give than receive. And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all. They embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him. to the ship. The word of the Lord. Let's pray once more. Father, thank you for this great text. Thank you for this admonition to leaders a call to live in a way that befits your glorious name. So we pray for all men who serve currently and future as officers in your church. And we pray for the whole congregation who supports them, who prays for them, who nominates and chooses them. Oh Lord, use this text to help us to have a culture of shepherding, a culture of pastoral care, that filters to every single member. We pray God that you would be honored and glorified in the preaching of this passage. Please give it your blessing and help. In Jesus name we ask, Amen. Children, have you ever had the sense that one of your parents, and I would say particularly your moms, do you ever have the sense that your mom can see things that most people can't see? Do you ever have the sense that your mother knew what you were doing even though she wasn't even in the same room with you? We have this phrase that she has eyes in the back of her head. It's a pretty marvelous thing. It's pretty universal. I think we've all experienced this. We have a parent who just simply knew what we were doing was wrong. And how did they know? How did they know? They weren't even with us. They were in some other place. This comes, it's not magical. They don't really have eyes in the back of their heads. Here's what they do though. They know what you're doing because they have watched you all of your life. They have watched you since you were little babes. They've kept their eyes on you. They've listened for your voice. They have observed your patterns, and they know how you are. And so they're in a wholly different room, another part of the house, and they know because of the eerie silence that you're into some mischief. Your mother, your father, they're shepherds. They understand their little flocks. That's the way it should be. There's something amiss. I can't tell you why. They just know their flock so well because they've cared for them so well, and they just simply have a seemingly sick sense. And this is God's way. This is God's blessing to parents. And this is God's blessings to shepherds of all sorts, particularly in the church of Jesus Christ, that He calls men to be pastors. God gives us gifts. The book of Ephesians chapter 4 tells us that He's given gifts to the church, not to self-aggrandize ourselves, but those who are called to shepherds are a gift to the church to shepherd the souls and to care for the souls of God's people so that they would be prospering in their walk with Jesus. It's God's work in them and through them. And it's God's work for you, such that shepherds know how you are. They know where you are. They know what you're going through. They know what you're struggling with. They know what you're rejoicing in. And they're able to come alongside you at key times to assist you in your walk with the Lord. This is the way it should be. And that's what we're looking at here. This is what Paul is calling these elders in Ephesus to do. To be real shepherds. To be real pastors. And so he's gonna flesh that out for us in a very, very unique and remarkable way here. A little context as we look at verses 17 and 18 particularly as we kick off this speech that Paul is giving to these elders in Ephesus. We see that he begins this speech and he ends this speech in the same way. You know how I've lived my life with you these last but ends up about two and a half years. You know how I've lived before you. He's not boasting. He's not saying that he's anything special. I don't think that he's doing that at all. I think he's recognizing two things. What I speak and preach to you, what I teach to you, I do. And this is by God's work in me. 2nd Corinthians tells us that none of us are sufficient in ourselves to serve Christ in any way. We require the grace of the Lord in us to do these works. So he's saying, this is how I've lived before you by the grace of Jesus Christ. And what I'm now doing, elders of Ephesus, I'll never see your face again. This is how you are to shepherd the flock that Christ has given you. So this whole speech from verse 17 to verse 38 is one long speech, a farewell speech of Paul on the docks of this port city, 20 miles away or so from Ephesus. And these elders are now hearing Paul's last plea to them to be faithful shepherds in the church of Jesus Christ. He does some marvelous things here. He defines for us the office of elder. The office of elder is synonymous with two other things here. One is one who cares for the flock. That verb there is a word that means to shepherd the flock, poimenos. And then he also describes them as overseers. That Greek word is episkopos. That's the word from which we get the word episcopal. It simply means overseers. That's what that word means. So they are those who watch over, protect, guard the flock, spiritually speaking. And they are pastors. They are ones who give care, shepherding care to souls. And that's what an elder is. A pastor, a preacher, is an elder. A ruling elder is an elder. We're all elders. We have different gifts, slightly different functions. We're all called to be pastors. And the emphasis in this speech is on imitation. 1 Corinthians 11 verse 1, Paul says, imitate me as I imitate Christ. Jesus, on that last evening, he was with his disciples in the upper room. He washed the feet of his disciples. He says, what I've done for you, you do for one another. This is how you serve as leaders in the church. You get down and dirty with God's people. You be shepherds, lay down your lives for the flock. And so Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 1 as well as chapter 4, he says, imitate me as I have imitated Christ. We're not anything special, we're just imitating the master. And God's people are to imitate the leaders. And so what we're seeing is Christ's will that this culture of servant leadership would filter down to every last one of us, to the children even. That we would all be those who are caring for one another, a culture of shepherding, a culture of soul care, a culture of love and concern and building one another up and so forth. We see that explicitly stated in Ephesians chapter 4. And so God's word to these elders through Paul here is relevant for all of the church because all of God's people are called to not only choose their leaders who fit this description, but also to pray for them and to follow their example. So this is relevant not only for those who are officers and shepherds, but for all of us. What we've seen so far, Paul, and this has been an ongoing running series, so what we've seen so far in Paul's speech is a call to imitate him in these ways. A humble character, courageous teaching, faithful shepherding, walking by the Spirit, self-denial, and a good conscience. He does something different now. He turns a little bit of a corner and he adjusts his speech slightly. What he's done so far, he says, you've seen my life imitated. Now he starts to give them direct admonitions. This is the center. This is really the crucial, most important part of this speech. It's literally structured in such a way that it really focuses that point, but I won't get into that. This is important because now he's like at the core of his message and he's now given these very direct commands. What does he command? Three commands here. This is so important for shepherds. Keep watch over yourselves first. Keep watch over the whole flock. And third, keep watch out for wolves. So important. So we're gonna see these three admonitions to keep watch as overseers in the church of Jesus Christ. So let's look at the text. Let's dive in the text and keep your Bible open with me please. First of all, Paul admonishes these elders, his beloved friends, these men he's labored with for two and a half years. Keep watch over yourselves. Now, note here, this section follows this last admonition to live with a good conscience. He had said to the elders, I am innocent of all your blood. Remember that phrase, I'm innocent of all your blood. Why? Because I didn't shrink back from anything that was profitable for you to hear. That's an explicit connection to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 3, chapter 33, where Ezekiel describes the watchman on the walls, the man of God who's given to the church to proclaim truth, to teach truth, to preach truth. Ezekiel said, I'm a watchman on the walls. He says, woe to me if I don't speak what God has told me to speak, when there's danger that I don't warn God's people. Because if I don't, what does he say? Ezekiel 3.33 says, if I don't warn the people of God, if I don't speak to them what they need to hear, woe to me, their blood is on my hands. Their blood is on me. This is how important God considers the ministry of the gospel. This is how important Christ considers the shepherding ministry of the church. It's life or death. Eternal souls we are dealing with. So Paul uses that strong language. I am innocent of the blood of all. I have fulfilled my calling. He understands he's going to be held to account for all that he's done or hasn't done. And then he follows it with this admonition. They're connected. Pay careful attention to yourselves, elders. If you've ever ridden an airline, You'll sometimes hear the little speech that the airline attendants give, and I think often you drown them out, you just sort of like put your earbuds in or whatever, but you shouldn't do that. The airline attendant is giving you instructions in case there's an emergency, and one of the things they say is, in case of emergency, parents, grab the oxygen mask for yourself first, strap on the oxygen mask for yourself first, and then give to your children. Why? Because you may not be able to help them if you don't have a supply of oxygen. First care for yourself so that you can care for others. Paul says, elders, you watch your own soul first, because if you don't watch your own soul, you will be of no use to anyone in the church. You'll be spiritually impotent. You'll be spiritually crippled. And God wants you to have your own soul in order so that you can help the people of God. So let's look at this for a moment. The command for shepherds to watch over their own souls. It's just two words in the Greek, but boy do they pack a powerful punch. Pay careful attention to yourselves. This command reminds me of when I was a brand new pastor. I would do hospital visits when our members were sick and I would go to the hospital and, for whatever reason, this particular hospital was probably not unlike others. But this one was – there was something about it that struck me is that I would go to the entrance of the hospital and there would be a smoking section. And many of the nurses would be standing around, taking their breaks, smoking cigarettes together. And I thought to myself, wow, this is astonishing. Those who are called to care for the well-being and the health of others, they're living in such a way that they're really not caring for themselves very well. Many of them did not look very healthy, and they were doing something that was very deleterious to their own health. This isn't a screen against cigarettes by the way, just an illustration. But the point is this, it was astonishing that those who are called to care for others did not care for themselves, but it was not astonishing to me anymore. Having been a pastor for over a decade, it's something I've experienced myself. Not caring for myself and not being able to care for the people of God. I think every shepherd at times will confess to this. Perhaps every parent will as well. is that we cannot properly care for the people of God unless we are caring for our own souls. It is astonishingly common. The mother who cares for babies and little children to the point of dehydration and exhaustion and sleep deprivation, getting run down and finally breaking down. Adult children who care for their elderly parents around the clock, non-stop. wearing themselves out, not caring for themselves properly, eventually breaking down. Good motives. You love the people. You want to do good. You want to do well. But it doesn't end well. You can't sustain that. You see, we're operating out of a deficiency. You cannot sustain that. The elder or pastor who burns the candle at both ends, caring for the church, visiting constantly, or the pastor who preaches and teaches constantly but neglects his own spiritual well-being, neglects prayer, neglects private devotions, neglects meditation in quiet times, neglects even family worship. It won't end well for that elder or pastor. So Christ wants all of us, especially pastors of the church, to first care for our own souls, then look after others. Proverbs chapter 4, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of your life. Protect your heart. Guard your heart, he tells us. Psalm 127 tells us that to do the work of the Lord is futile unless the Lord builds the house. Unless we were walking with the Lord, communing with our God, it is vain for us to rise up early. It is vain for us to labor late unless the Lord is building the house through us. How should we expect Him to build the house? Whether it be the congregation or our families, how can we expect Him to bless when we are neglecting a relationship with Him? If we are not walking in faith and communion with Him, then why would we expect Him to bless all these works for Him? The point is that we will be walking with Him first. Christ knows that a shepherd who watches his own soul is one who will be spending time daily with him, confessing his own sins, praying for greater faith to believe his promises, praying for the Lord to bless his feeble efforts, praying for strength, praying for courage, praying for humility, praying for wisdom and knowledge to teach and preach as he ought, praying for love and compassion and patience for God's people. We are crying out to God, abiding with Him, John 15, being filled with His power, filled with His love, filled with His Spirit, so that we can have something to give to God's people in ourselves. We are empty, bankrupt, and unable. Remember the story of Martha and Mary. Martha and Mary, children, remember that story. These two sisters. Jesus comes to their house. Martha's running around busy, worried about many things. Worried about what food's on the table, where the dishes are placed and so forth. She's busying herself with many good things. Many good things. Many needful things. But her sister is on the floor sitting cross-legged in front of the master as he teaches, and Martha's mad. Martha's upset. Poor old Martha. She's doing many good things, wearing herself out. Jesus said, oh Martha, Martha, your sister has chosen the better portion. We need to spend time with our Lord, and then we'll have strength and grace and wisdom and power to do all the things that He's called us to do. Not only as pastors, but as parents, as children, as students, as employees, as employers, whatever you're calling in life, we must be abiding in Christ so that we have the power that He can only give to do the work that He has called us to do. Let me say this as well. There is a great danger for shepherds who neglect their own souls. A shepherd who neglects his own souls, he may begin with good motives. He may start out hoping to do well, out of love. But his neglect of his own soul is foolish and sinful and will eventually lead to great harm to himself and ironically to the very flock that he's called to serve. If a shepherd doesn't care for his own soul, not only will he not help his flock, he'll be an active source of hurting them. Think of it this way, he'll be busy visiting, preparing messages, teaching, preaching, attending church meetings, many church meetings, pouring out his life for others while he himself is not being poured into. He will begin to operate out of a deficit. The reservoir of grace within Him will run dry. And He will be operating like a car on an empty tank. Eventually, what's going to happen? When you don't put fuel in the tank, what's going to happen? The car's going to stop and stall. And so what happens? What will He become like? A week before, His soul was the Garden of Eden. A week later, his soul is Death Valley, dry, lifeless, bitter, harsh. He would become easily irritated, easily tempted, harsh in his words, unkind in his speech, uncharitable in his estimation of others. He will be laboring in the flesh, not the spirit. Nothing he does will be blessed. How will we speak to that man? How will we speak to that elder, that pastor? How will we speak to ourselves if we're in that place? Do you not realize, sir, that you are not an endless fountain of wisdom and life? Do you not realize that you are not an endless source of good? Do you not realize that you can do nothing apart from the all-sufficient grace of our Lord Jesus Christ? Do you not realize that this is a manifestation of your self-righteousness and your pride, that you think you're above it all? You think you're above kneeling before the Lord and seeking his help? That you've begun to think you're something in yourself? Do you not realize, sir, that your laboring in your own strength will not be blessed? We all could stand to hear that from time to time. And so, God commands through Paul all his shepherds, indeed all of his people, to care for our own souls, to spend time with the Lord Jesus and abiding with Him in His life and being filled with His grace. You know, the world talks of self-care a lot. Self-care. Not all of this is bad, but not all of this is good. Sometimes this talk of self-care can be quite selfish. You need to just have some more me time. I don't think that's what the Lord is calling us to. I think He's calling us to spend time glorying in Christ, getting outside of ourselves, not focused on ourselves, but focused on Him. You see, when we focus on Him, that's when we prosper. We focus on ourselves and serve ourselves. That's when we begin to diminish. Have you, my friends, been caring for your own soul's well-being? Have you been drinking from Christ's fountain of living water? Have you been like Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus? Or have you been like Martha, busy about many good things, but neglecting the one thing that isn't necessary? The Lord Jesus calls us to abide in Him, to care for ourselves, and particularly He calls His elders, so that we would be refreshed in Jesus' soul care, so that we would have something to give to others as well. So that's the first admonition. Shepherd yourselves. Secondly, He follows it. Verse 28, the second part. Keep watch over yourselves, Paul says, and keep watch over the whole flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God which he obtained with his own blood. It's a very interesting statement. You probably have some questions about it. I do. So he prioritizes first, care for your own souls, elders. Secondly, only then does he give this charge, care for the whole flock. So let's look at this statement. It's very, very carefully written. First of all, I think what he's telling elders is that they are to care for all of God's people. He speaks of the flock here, I believe, of the visible church. That is everyone. Every member of the church is to receive proper care. In other words, I'll put it this way. Pastors, elders, they're just men. preferences, opinions, differences of viewpoints and so forth. We're not granted the liberty to decide who we will and will not care for. We're not granted the liberty to decide who are our favorites and who will we be partial to and who will we neglect. He is telling the elder, you shepherd the whole flock because she's precious to me. Jesus is speaking here. This is my church. And she may not always look the prettiest. She may not always be the most pleasant. But she is His bride. And you will not pick and choose who you care for. Shepherd all the flock, He says. Care for all the flock. Pay careful attention to all the flock. Not just some. Why? Because the Good Shepherd called elders to serve in His name. We serve in Jesus' name and we serve His flock. It's not our flock, it's His flock. It kind of bothers me sometimes I hear pastors referring to my church. It's not your church. If you ever hear me say that, correct me. It's not my church, it's His church. It's His congregation. I don't own this. We're just stewards. We're just servants. We're just shepherds. He is the chief shepherd. We're just under shepherds. We're to do His will and He loves the whole flock. And this is important. He doesn't say, I love you, church, except for you, you, and you. He says, I love you, you are holy to me, you are clean to me, you are set apart for me, and I love you. and I desire to give you grace. He speaks corporately. I'm gonna touch on that point in just a moment. But again, no willful neglect. Even if someone annoys you and their personality grates on you, no, shepherd, you go for those people first. You pray for those people more until you get a heart of compassion for them. Trust me, that really works. This is true for everyone. If that person really grates on you and you find it difficult to like that person, pray more for them. Reach out to them. Get a coffee with them. By the way, don't take that as a... If I call you for coffee, don't take that as a... But my point is this. If you reach out and you really get to know people, then you will find things to like about them. And so, there's no willful neglect of those who you don't prefer. No. You're a shepherd to Christ's flock. It's His flock. And there is to be no partiality. There is to be no choosing and picking of favorites. Spending all your time on them. Now every proper elder and pastor needs to be looking to spend as much time as he can with everyone. It's not always possible, but to everyone they can. So, all the flock. He says, care for all the flock. Second, he reminds elders to shepherd the flock, which is his work. enabled by Him. Listen to what He says, "...care for all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers." I think the very simple point here is that Christ has made you what you are. It is Christ and His Spirit's power working in you that will enable you to do this work. Apart from me you can do nothing. Jesus said, I love what Augustine prayed so long ago. Augustine prayed, Lord, give what you command and then command what you will. Lord, I don't have what it takes. I don't have the wisdom your people need. I don't have the energy. I don't have the compassion they need. Lord, you need to supply what I lack. And so in prayer and dependence on the Holy Spirit, moment by moment, the Lord Jesus will give His shepherds and give all of us what we need to do the work. Think about it this way, too. Hebrews 13, 17 says, all officers of the church, shepherds, will give account for how they have cared for the flock. Will Jesus not give us what He's called us to do, knowing that we will stand before Him? He will. So this is a work of dependence on His kind grace. So shepherds, Paul says, you shepherd all my flock, don't you leave any of my little sheep out. This is my work, I'm working through you by my Holy Spirit. What else does he say? He gives the elders a reminder of why their labors are so important to me. Listen to what he calls the church. He says, pay attention to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. Now, I mentioned you may have questions about this verse. This is a remarkable verse. I wanna try to get to what it means with you. One, It's remarkable because you have a proof of Christ's divinity in such a clear and unmistakable fashion. If you have neighbors who might be of a cult and so forth, a non-Christian cult, what a marvelous statement here. The Church of God which He, God, obtained with His own blood. It's difficult to mess that up. Jesus is God and He shed His blood for the church. What a remarkable statement of the divinity of Jesus Christ. But secondly, and more importantly, and to the point of this passage, it's a reminder of God's love for His church. It's a reminder of why they are so precious to Him, because His Son, the Lord Jesus, was willing to lay down His precious life, His sinless life, to redeem the people of God. A couple of points here. This phrase, the Church of God, it's a phrase that in the Greek appears multiple times in the Old Testament, the Greek version of the Old Testament, Septuagint, to describe Israel. Israel is described in these words as the Church of God, the assembled people of God. And this phrase of God obtaining His church, or obtaining with His own blood, is used a couple of times in the Old Testament, particularly Psalm 74, verses 1 and 2, and then Isaiah 43, verse 21, to describe God's redemption of His people Israel, particularly in the Exodus. So what Paul is doing is he's borrowing Old Testament language, and what he's saying is that the church is the New Testament fulfillment of Israel. The church is Israel from the New Covenant age. That's what he's saying. So all the promises that God made to his people Israel, they are his beloved child, Exodus 4. Exodus 19, they are his precious, treasured possession, his royal priesthood. You could go on and on and multiply examples of his descriptions of his people, whom he loves, the apple of his eye, precious to him. All of that is embodied in this phrase. And so here, the church is referring to the visible church, and he's saying that Christ shed his blood to obtain, to purchase this church. Now, I just want to put a parenthesis here. For those of you who are deep thinkers and theologically inclined, I don't believe this statement is to be taken in any way, shape, or form to mean that those who are in the visible church who are not elect, there are those people, the wheat amongst the tares, or the tares amongst the wheat, those people who are unbelievers amongst the visible church. That is true. I don't believe that he's saying those people have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. He's speaking, I believe, covenantally, corporately. And the point is, it's not to say who is redeemed and who's not. It's to say that all the church should be regarded by her shepherds as being purchased by the blood. We don't know who the elect are. We don't know who God has chosen and who hasn't. That will be sorted out on the last judgment. As pastors, we're to see the whole church as being purchased by the blood. I'm to assume charitably that you all are and pray that you all are. And so brothers and sisters, I think that's what he's saying. This is so important to me. This precious people are so important to me. I gave my son, my precious son to die for you. You better take care of him. You better watch out for him. You better pray for him. I think that's the point. So God here commands his elders to watch over and protect his flock. There's a pastor named Eugene Peterson who wrote a book on pastoral ministry and he called pastors to be what he called the contemplative pastor. He called them to be contemplative in the sense that they would be men who would quietly think about, get to know, and think about the congregation they serve. To understand who they are, what they're going through, their struggles, their needs. to ask many questions, to reflect upon what they say, and to pray for them intelligently. The contemplative pastor, I think it's a marvelous idea. Very simply though, it's to be attentive. To be watchful and attentive over the needs of God's people. Do they need instruction? Or do they need a reminder of what they've already been instructed? Do they need encouragement? Or do they need a warning? Do they need a listening ear? Or do they just need somebody to sit silently, like Job's friends, and mourn with them? What do they need? What does a pastor call to? Many things. And a church where the shepherds care for the flock in this way create a culture of care. They create a culture of love. And I mentioned Ephesians 4, and I want to read this for you. It's so profound. He speaks of He speaks of the elders and the pastors as a gift to the church. This isn't a self-aggrandizing reference, by the way. This is just a way that the Lord has spoken. So Ephesians chapter 4, verse 11, And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and the teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood and to the measure of the stature of fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning and by craftiness and deceitful schemes. Rather, we are to speak truth in love, and we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, and when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." You see the pattern? Shepherds are to equip the saints to be mature and grow so that we are building each other up. Shepherding creates a culture of care, And so it's so important that officers in the church understand what Christ is calling us to. The whole flock. And that we be praying for our elders as well. And choosing men who will do these very things. Last but not least, so we've seen that God calls His elders to watch out for themselves, to watch over the whole flock, and thirdly to keep an eye out, to watch out for false teachers. Verse 29. He speaks of the fierce wolves. False teachers are described. Their nature is being described here. False teachers within the church are fierce wolves. It's a perfect illustration. If God's church are a flock of sheep, then the false teacher is a wolf. Children, what do wolves do with a sheep? If you let a wolf into a sheep pen, what's he going to do? He's going to eat him up, right? He's going to gobble him up. He's going to chew on him. He's going to gnaw on their bones and he's going to absorb him into his body and he's going to leave him for dead. That's what a wolf does to a sheep. They are useful for a moment and they leave them for dead. False teachers, their desire is to serve and benefit themselves. They do not care for the flock and they want to use the flock for their own evil purposes. And so that is important that we see that that is what a false teacher is. He does not care about the interests of the Good Shepherd. Where do they come from? He says they will come in among you, meaning they come from the outside. It's very important that elders be, in a sense, gatekeepers, and that we are very careful who comes into the membership of the body, that we understand who we are admitting into the house of the Lord. We need to understand, do they have a credible profession of faith? Are they people who have a reputation for good works? Or, consequently, or conversely, do they have a reputation for evil doing? There have been times, in my own experience, there have been those who seek membership in the church and you find out later they have a long pattern of abusive, wicked behavior. And you have to say to that person, we love you, but you need to repent of these things. You need to be reconciled with these people before you can join the church. And so it's very important that the elders understand who they are admitting into membership. But notice he says this, they will not just come from outside the body, he says, they will come from among your own selves. He's saying there are men who become officers in the church, they become elders in the church, and that they will become false teachers. That's very sobering, isn't it? That there are elders who at one point looked sound and good, they looked like good men, they looked like good teachers, they had good theology, so it seemed. but then something changes in them. It's simply saying that there are wolves that are disguised as shepherds. We have to be very careful who we call to be leaders in our congregations as well. Their method, summary, their method, they will come in, Paul says, after my departure. That's a telling statement. They're cowards. They wait for the threat to leave. They wait for the opportune moment when they can take advantage of the flock. And at that opportune moment, they spring their surprise. They typically hide under cover. They hide their agenda until they feel that the political climate of the church will allow a foothold. They are masters at gathering a party. They are masters at dividing the flock. They are masters at spreading discord and sowing discord and gathering their own little party factions. That's what false teachers do. If you ever see that happening, you recognize that immediately as of the enemy. Allow no gossip. Allow no slander. Someone speaks to you about another person, you tell them, go back and speak to them. Don't listen to it. That's satanic. So that's what a false teacher does. And notice what he says, their method, they come in after my departure, they're sneaky, they're dishonest, and they speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. Perverted things, meaning they can teach twisted doctrines, they can twist the scriptures, but it's also speaking inherently perverted things, inherently twisted things. Gossip, slander, that's inherently perverted in the eyes of Christ. So their words create the work they're trying to accomplish. How do you know a false teacher? There are other parts of the New Testament, Jude, for example, 2 Peter, for example, that outline what a false teacher looks like. But here are a few things to remember. One, they have a defective spiritual life. They are either not united to Jesus Christ, or it could be that they might be a very immature, weak, worldly believer. Sometimes I think false teachers would be very surprised to find that they have become a wolf. They would never have chosen that. They would never thought themselves a wolf, but they are. They are defective in their walk with the Lord. Oftentimes they are dominated by legalistic ideas. Which can mask itself as licentiousness as well. Really ultimately what the false teacher wants is a context in which he can indulge himself in sin. He wants a place that protects him, insulates him in his sin. And so he seeks to wager and make barters and bargains with the congregation to get them on his side. So he can create a context for sin to flourish. Greed, self-aggrandizement, whatever. but that's what he wants. It's a bargain with the congregation. I'll give you what you want and you give me what I want. So they're often very gifted teachers, often very charming. They have dynamic personalities. They're usually nice, usually like ogres. Satan wouldn't win over many people with an ogre. They're usually very charming people. And they always have an agenda, whether it be position or power, provision for their own flesh. They are not there to serve the flock. They are not there to serve Christ. They are there to use the flock for their own interests. And the protection against them is very simple. Paul says, therefore be alert. Keep your eyes out, elders. And I don't mean, I don't take this to mean, elders, walk around with a suspicious eye You know, look at everybody and say, are you a heretic? Are you a wolf in sheep's clothing? No, no, I don't think he's saying that. I don't think he's telling us to walk around with an evil eye towards one another. The opposite. I think we're to be charitable and gracious towards one another, think the best of one another, but know your flock. Know your flock. Know who's in our midst. Know who's in our services. Know their lives. Know their families. Know their needs and so forth. So when you know people, then when someone comes into your midst who's unknown and these things start to emerge, then you can be discerning and you can carefully shepherd that individual as well. One last pastoral plea. One last pastoral plea. Look at verse 32. He goes back to where he started. And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I love this. He repeats his initial idea. He says, Brothers, go back to the fountain. Go back to the Lord who will give you grace that is sufficient for you, that will assure you of your inheritance in Him, that will build you up and establish you in your work. Go back and go to Christ so that you will not fall of neglect of your own souls and fall into neglect of His work. I'll just say this very, very transparently. This passage hits home for me very, very deeply because I have found myself at times in my own ministry neglecting my own soul and seeing the bad effects of that. I've experienced it. I know it. And I never want to go there again. And what's important to me in this passage is that we have a chief shepherd. So if you have fallen into those times where you are neglectful of your own life, neglectful of your own soul's care, you have a shepherd, not an earthly shepherd, but you have a shepherd who watches over you. Go back and read Psalm 121, the Lord is your keeper. The Lord is a shade at your right hand. The Lord neither slumbers nor sleeps. The Lord watches over you and He will watch over your coming out and your going in, both now and forever. You have a Chief Shepherd who watches over your souls and He will not let you go astray. If you are His, if you are united in faith to Him, He will not let you go astray. That's very comforting to me. Shepherds need to be shepherded. Shepherds need to be shepherded. And Christ shepherds the shepherds, so the shepherds can shepherd the sheep. And then so the sheep can shepherd the other sheep. It's a marvelous trickle-down effect. So as we look at this, keep watch over yourselves, keep watch over the flock, and keep watch for wolves. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, God we love you. Thank you for shepherding our souls. Thank you for caring for us and being our pastor. You know us. You love us. You listen to us when we pray. You know our needs perfectly and you meet them perfectly. We're so thankful that you are our pastor and our shepherd. And we pray that in some small measure, we might fulfill our callings to shepherd one another, particularly as pastors and elders, but also as parents and parents in the Lord, grandparents. as friends, as uncles, as aunts, as peers, that we would have a culture of shepherding each other and caring for each other's souls. We pray for this, and we pray that this would glorify you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.